


Dog Days

by superchipmunk



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Animal Transformation, F/M, blame her, this is all kaitlyn's fault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 03:22:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4247454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superchipmunk/pseuds/superchipmunk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Q pays a visit to the station and leaves one of the DS9 crew not like he found them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dog Days

Major Kira Nerys ran as fast as her legs could take her. She skidded to a halt in front of the turbolift. She told it that she wanted to go to Ops, slightly out of breath. In the turbolift, she stood up straighter and took a few deep breaths. When it stopped, she rolled back her shoulders and strode into Ops. 

Sisko stood eye-to-eye with a man in a captain’s uniform. The two weren’t even speaking. They just stared at each other. The rest of Ops was silent except for the whirr of technology and the occasional beep. 

“Q,” said Sisko.

“Commander... Sisko, is it?” 

“I thought I told you to leave.”

“And I did. Now I’m back. Did you miss me?”

“Not a bit,” Sisko said, with a smile.

“Now that is hard to take. I come here and bring a little excitement to your dull, little lives and you don’t even have the decency to miss me?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say our lives are dull.”

“Babysitting a hole in space full of “prophets,” or whatever those Bajorans call them. I call them dirty cheats. They still owe me fifty bucks. Honestly though, I’m really not sure what I’d do with that many deer.”

Before anyone could stop her, Kira was at him, full tilt.

“Now you listen here, you better...”

“Oh yap yap yap yap yap” 

Q snapped his fingers, and there was a puff of smoke. Instead of Major Kira, there was a small, red terrier at his feet. 

“Q!” A man appeared behind Sisko and marched briskly towards Q. “You’re coming with me.” 

“No, Q, I can explain!”

“Save it for The Continuum.”

The two men disappeared, and the dog was left in place of Kira. 

“Major?” asked Sisko.

Kira barked and then spun around to try and get a better look at herself. Everyone in Ops giggled to themselves, that is, except for Dax who let out a full-force laugh. Kira stopped and growled in Dax’s direction. Dax laughed until she had to lean against the com panel for support. Kira glared at Dax and pulled her ears back, baring her tiny teeth. She growled again. 

“Sisko to Odo: I’m gonna need you to come and break up a fight in Ops.”

“I’m on my way, Commander.”

When he arrived, Odo stood over Kira as she pulled on Dax’s pant leg. Dax was still laughing. 

“What do we have here?”

“Major Kira,” responded Sisko.

Odo’s eyes widened and his mouth opened a bit before he had the good sense to close it. Odo cleared his throat, and his expression shifted back to business.

“And how did this happen?”

“Q decided to pay us a visit. And then someone appeared and took him back to what he called The Continuum before he could... repair the damage.”

“Ahh. Okay, Kira. Let’s go pay a visit to Doctor Bashir.”

Kira stopped trying to kill Dax’s pant leg and looked up at Odo. She seemed unsure of what to do. Odo knelt down closer to Kira’s level. 

“Are you going to come with me, or am I going to have to pick you up?”

Kira marched dutifully over to Odo and sat right in front of him her ears pricked a bit. Odo held out a hand to let her sniff it. At first, she was unsure of what to do with his offered hand, but eventually she was sniffing it with gusto. Odo smiled and ruffled the fur on top of her head. He stiffened. Kira gave him a single nod. She then walked off towards the turbolift as if to say that she was ready to go and see Doctor Bashir.

The promenade was alive with new sounds and smells. While Odo didn’t have a sense of smell himself, he still understood what Kira was experiencing, and he smiled a tiny smile to himself as he walked behind her. Kira took off towards the Klingon restaurant, and Odo started to hurry after her. He scanned the crowd, but didn’t see the tiny dog that was Major Kira. His hand was halfway to his communicator when she came bounding back to him, her eyes bright. Odo dropped his hand and started to scowl at her, but ended up looking like a concerned parent just happy to see their child again.

***

“This is Major Kira? How on Earth did this happen?”

“Doctor, we aren’t on Earth.”

“It’s just an– you know what I meant.”

Kira huffed at the both of them. They both looked at the ground briefly. Bashir recovered quickly and flashed a smile at Kira.

“I’m not an expert in veterinary medicine, but it looks to me like you’re a healthy dog. That’s all I can really say at this point. I can start looking for a way to reverse this, but I need to know what happened.”

“It was Q. I didn’t witness it, but he turned Kira into a dog, and then another man also called Q came and dragged him away. It sounds to me like the other man was some kind of law enforcement that had finally caught up with Q.”

Bashir raised his eyebrows and whistled quietly.

“I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t promise anything. I’ll run some tests. We’ll figure this out, Major.”

Kira nodded at Bashir and then looked to the constable. 

“I’ll have to contact Captain Picard and see what he has to say about Q. He’s had the most experience with him.”

Kira sighed. She stood at the edge of the table and made as if she was going to jump but didn’t. She readied herself to jump again but still couldn’t bring herself to do it. Looking off of the edge one last time, Kira huffed and sat herself in front of Odo. The instruments and com panels in the infirmary we suddenly very interesting to her. Odo cracked another little smile and lifted Kira off of the table and set her lightly down on the floor. 

“I’m going to go and see if I can track down Q. Keep me–,” Odo looked down at Kira, “Keep us informed if your tests yield any results.”

“I will,” said Bashir with a little head nod.

Odo walked back to his office with Kira trotting behind. He had sat down in his chair before he realized that the automatic door couldn’t sense Kira, and he had left her outside. He got up and opened the door for her. She jumped up into the chair opposite his desk and glared at him. 

“Sorry, Major.”

Odo sat in his chair and folded his hands on his desk. 

“I want to know what you think of all this.”

Kira stared at him. She then jumped on the com panel and tried to type something out. Her paws didn’t have the precision of her Bajoran hands. Kira pawed at it over and over. She then began digging at it and then pounced, bouncing on her front paws. Odo cocked his head. He didn’t know much about Earth dogs, but he did know a lot about humanoids, especially Kira, and this was odd. He made a mental note to ask Doctor Bashir about it if he saw him later.

Kira laid down in front of Odo with her head resting on her paws. She sighed loudly. Odo’s expression softened and he slowly reached out his hand towards Kira. She bumped his hand with her head when he got close enough. Odo very lightly scratched his fingers on the top of her head. She closed her eyes and laid her head back down on her paws. Odo moved his hand around to behind her ears. Kira started breathing slowly and deeply. Odo smiled to himself, but then realized that Kira was falling asleep on his com panel and he wouldn’t be able to work around her. He then very slowly slid his hands under her. She stirred a bit, and he froze. After a moment, he began to pick her up. He held her in his hands and looked for a place to put her. He frowned as he looked around his office. Eventually, he settled on his own lap. He gently placed her down. She opened her eyes and curled into a tight ball on his lap. Kira then immediately went back to sleep. Odo ran a single finger down her back and once again smiled to himself. He’d been doing that a lot lately. 

***

“How’s she doing?”

Odo looked up to see Lieutenant Dax standing in front of him. He gestured to his lap. Dax leaned over the com panel. Her face lit up when she saw Kira still asleep on Odo. 

“Well, when she wakes up, give her this from me.”

Dax then handed Odo a small reddish collar. It was the same color as the Major’s uniform. 

“Oh, this is going to go over well.”

“Just give it to her,” said Jadzia. She laughed to herself and then turned to leave. 

“I almost forgot. You know Ferengi are afraid of dogs, right?”

“Are they?”

“Yes. It’s probably best if you kept Kira away from any Ferengi,” said Dax, with a self-satisfied smile. She then left Odo’s office. 

Odo worked for a bit more, but he kept looking up at the flashing light across the promenade. He lengthened his arm to reach a computer pad that he’d left on the edge of the com panel and started to read it, but his mind still wandered. The things he could get from Quark using Kira. 

“Kira.” 

Nothing.

“Kira,” said Odo as he bounced his knees a bit to wake her.

Nothing.

“Nerys.”

Kira started awake. Once she realized where she was, she relaxed. She yawned wide and stretched. Odo then lifted her off of his lap and set her on the com panel.

“Major, I just learned something very interesting from Dax.”

Kira pricked up her ears and cocked her head.

“Ferengi are afraid of dogs.”

Kira’s tail started wagging.

“That’s how I thought you’d react. Oh, also, Dax brought this by for you.”

Odo picked up the collar and held it out for Kira to inspect. She huffed and shook her head, but when Odo went to put the collar away, she pawed his hand.

“Do you actually want to wear it?”

Kira nodded.

“Well, that’s not how I thought you’d react.”

Kira’s tail started wagging again. Odo put the collar on Kira. She tried to get a look at it but couldn’t really see it. 

“Here.” Odo turned his hand into a mirror so that she could admire the new collar. 

“It looks very nice. Now, I have a plan for Quark.”

***

It had been a slow day in Quark’s. He absently wiped at the bar with a towel while calculating figures in his head. Before he knew it, a brown tabby cat streaked into his bar and right after it came a little dog barking its head off. The two of them ran into the back of the bar. 

“Hey! Hey! What the hell!”

Quark ran after them, trying in vain to shoo them out of the bar. The dog had the cat corned in a dark back corner that Quark saved for the shadiest of his dealings. The cat’s back was arched and it was growling at the dog who was growling right back at it. Quark gingerly approached the two and stood there, unsure of how to deal with the situation at hand. He didn’t even know that there were animals on the station, let alone dogs. Why had no one informed him that there were dogs on DS9? Dogs were dangerous creatures, and he did not want them around his bar. Even this small dog. Quark reached down to try and grab one of the animals and the dog snapped at him. Quark screamed and pulled his hand back. The cat ran behind him and the dog turned to face him. Quark put his hands up and backed up into the corner. 

“What have you been up to lately, Quark?” asked Odo, behind him.

Quark screamed again and froze. He was surrounded by evil on all sides here. 

“Um... um... Not much, Odo. How about you?”

The dog growled and moved a bit closer, forcing a squeal out of Quark. 

“Anything I should know about?”

“Not really. Nope. Nothing that I can think of. Not that I’m having an easy time thinking here right now.”

“Are you sure there’s nothing I should know about?”

“Absolutely. Everything is peachy here.”

“Good. Keep it that way or my associate and I may have to make another visit.”

Quark nodded, still keeping his eyes on the dog.

“Come on, Major. Let’s go.”

The dog and Odo started walking out of the bar together.

“Major? Wait. Was that...?” Quark stood in the back corner looking confused for a while before getting back to his duties.

***

“I’m not entirely sure that that accomplished much other than scaring Quark. But I think that’s a good goal in its own right.”

Odo and Kira were back in Odo’s office. Kira’s tail wagging and a smile on Odo’s face. 

“I’m going to go do my patrol. Do you want to go back to your quarters?”

Kira sat next to Odo’s feet. 

“I guess that answers that question. Let’s go.”

Odo walked the promenade with Kira by his side. She trotted along dutifully, carrying a computer pad in her mouth for Odo. He wasn’t too happy with her drooling and making teeth marks on it but knowing Kira, she wanted to do something to feel useful, so he gave her a task. And it certainly slowed down his patrol with all the people stopping them so they could look at Kira. She mostly tried to shy away from people and follow Odo. Once, a young Bajoran girl, about five or six years old, came up to Kira. 

“Lookit the puppy. Hello, puppy.”

Kira sat and wagged her tail, letting the girl pet her. Odo scowled, but he waited. 

“Good puppy. Bye!”

The little girl skipped away from Kira, going towards her mother who was calling her. Kira looked up at Odo as if to say ‘Did you hear that? I’m a good puppy.’ Odo just shook his head at her and kept on with his business. 

Odo’s patrol ended at Ops where he could check in on what was going on and pass on any information that he had gathered throughout the day. There wasn’t much to report from today, but he still wanted to see what had been going on in Ops. 

As soon as the turbolift stopped, Dax was there with something in her hands. It was a bowl from the replicator with something in it, but Odo didn’t get a good look at it. Dax had leaned down and was giving Kira one of the things inside the bowl. 

“Here, I replicated these for you,” said Dax, as she held out the treat for Kira. She sniffed it and looked suspiciously at Dax. 

“Come on. It’s okay.”

Kira relented and ate the treat. Kira then put her paws up on Dax’s legs and sniffed in the direction of the bowl, trying to get a better look at what was in it. Dax laughed and ruffled the top of Kira’s head.

“I see you’re wearing the collar. It looks good on you.” 

While she spoke, Dax ran her hand down Kira’s back. Kira flopped on her side, and taking the hint, Dax knelt down and scratched her belly. Odo furrowed his brow at the exchange. He was definitely going to have to talk to Bashir. 

“What’s going on here?” asked Sisko as he walked up to the three of them.

Dax stood up and straightened her uniform while Kira got on her feet and went to stand next to Odo. 

“Oh, just checking on Major Kira. Very important stuff.”

“I see. And how is she, Constable?”

“She seems to be doing just fine, Commander. Although, I can’t be one hundred percent sure, since we can’t really communicate.”

“How are you doing, Major?” asked Sisko as he looked down at Kira.

Kira barked and wagged her tail.

“I’ll take that as a positive sign,” said Sisko. “Any luck on finding Q?”

“None yet, sir. But he’s going to be difficult to track down. We traced his signature and now we’re scanning the area for it, but at this rate, it will take forever to find him.”

As she talked, Dax walked over to a com panel and tapped at a few buttons to show Odo and Sisko what she had been working on. 

“Have you spoken to O’Brien? See if he can help you increase the search area?” asked Sisko.

“He’s been working on the station’s translator all day. I’ll see if he can spare a moment.”

“Translator? I didn’t see a work order for that. Maybe I’ll go check in on him myself.”

While Dax and Sisko talked, Kira stood on her hind legs leaning against Odo while she tried to get a better view of what was going on. She jumped up to try and see the com panel better. Kira kept jumping until Odo picked her up and set her on the com panel. Kira sat on the panel and looked up at the three of them with her head cocked. She would be listening for a while, but then someone would move a little too quickly or something would beep and her attention would wander. Odo was trying to listen to how Dax and Sisko were planning to find Q but he found that his attention was wandering too. He excused himself from the conversation and went back to the turbolift. He needed to get some stuff done without Kira there to distract him. When Odo was leaving, Kira jumped off of the com panel to follow him. Odo just picked her up and put her back up there. 

“You stay here with Dax. I have a few things that I need to get done.”

Kira started to whine, but one look from Odo and she was sitting up back straight paying attention to Dax and Sisko. Smiling to himself, Odo reached out and quickly scratched her head before leaving. Odo’s smile faded as soon as he turned around. He crossed his arms and rode the turbolift, staring at the wall the entire time. Someone else got on with him, but he didn’t notice them. 

***

Odo went straight to the infirmary. A nurse told him that Bashir would be with him momentarily, and so he waited, arms crossed and foot tapping.

“Hello Constable, what can I do for you?” said the doctor with a rather large grin.

“It’s Kira. She’s been doing some things that are... out of character.”

Bashir’s smile faded. “How so?”

“How do I put this? She started acting rather dog-like. This afternoon she rolled on her back so that Dax could pet her stomach.”

“So, you think that this is starting to affect her mind as well? This means that we need to find Q. If it’s starting to affect her this quickly, she probably only has a few days until she’s all the way gone.”

“Do you think it’s reversible?” asked Odo, leaning forward.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never dealt with anything like this before. I would hope that it is, but just to be on the safe side, let’s assume it’s not.”

Odo grunted his disapproval and frowned. He thanked the doctor and went to his office. He tried to work for a while, but couldn’t concentrate. An image of Kira laughing and smiling came unbidden into his mind and he smiled, but it didn’t touch his eyes. These reports of petty crimes felt so irrelevant right now when Kira was in Ops slowly losing herself. Sighing, Odo stood up and rubbed his eyes. The chronometer said that it was 18:00 hours. The day had passed by rather quickly, and Odo was grateful. 

Up in Ops, Kira was sitting on Dax’s lap with her paws on a com panel listening to everything that Dax had to say. Occasionally, she would try to add to the conversation, but it downright impossible to understand what she was trying to convey. That didn’t stop Dax from trying though. Whenever Dax didn’t understand what she meant, Kira would huff in exasperation, which sounded very much like a sneeze. 

“Are you pregnant, Major?”

Kira glared up at Dax.

“Who’s pregnant?”

Odo stood behind Dax, cocking his head.

“Well, the Major has been sneezing quite a bit, so I asked if she was pregnant.”

Kira glared up at the two of them. Dax laughed to herself and then caught Odo up on the latest information about finding Q. O’Brien walked in and Dax turned her attention to him.

“Where have you been?”

“I’ve been working on the translator.”

“What for? We’re trying to find Q here if you haven’t noticed.”

“I was trying to see if I could get it to translate dog. I think I might have gotten it. Say something, Major.”

Kira barked, but all anyone heard was a ringing sound. O’Brien stomped off muttering something to himself. The only word anyone could make out was “bloody.” Dax tried to stop him so that he could help with the search, but Odo stopped her. It was no use. O’Brien was too focused on the problem of the translator to be of any help. Plus, he needed to fix it so that Kira’s bark didn’t translate to that ringing anymore. 

They worked a while longer on finding Q. Dax sat with her head in her hands rubbing her eyes. Odo found that he was reading the same sentence over and over again. Kira was up on the com panel that Dax was working on. She had tried to help, but gave up and sat there trying to look motivating. It wasn’t working. 

“We’re not going to get any further tonight,” said Dax through her hands.

Odo grunted in reply, still staring at the PADD.

“Besides, when was the last time you regenerated?”

“I have no idea. But it’s been a while.”

“Okay. You go do that, and I’ll take Kira for the night? Sound good?”

Odo crossed his arms, but he nodded.

***

It was late, and most of the shops were closed. The station was quiet except for Dax’s footsteps and Kira’s nails clicking on the floor. Kira had to hop over the raised parts in the floor. Dax had offered to carry her, but Kira had refused with a shake of her head. With each hop, Dax wanted to say “boing,” but she kept that to herself. She couldn’t, however, stop herself from giggling at little at the thought. Kira looked up at her.

“Oh no. I’m not laughing at you. I just thought of something funny.”

Kira sped up ahead of Jadzia. Boing. Boing. Boing. This just made Dax laugh even harder. And Kira sped up even more. Jadzia swore under her breath and chased after her at a jog.

“Kira! Kira stop! I swear I wasn’t laughing at you. Nerys, wait up.”

The Major stood at Dax’s door and stared at it, her back stiff.

“Oh come on, Nerys.”

Kira didn’t look up. Dax sighed and opened the door. Kira went in, jumped up on the couch, and sat there staring at Dax. Jadzia didn’t meet her gaze as she walked past. She came back into the room with a meal for her and a meal for Kira. They ate in silence. 

“I wasn’t laughing at you,” said Dax as she took their dishes back to the replicator. She came back with a stack of tiles and sat on the ground in front of the couch.

“Come here. I’ve got something for you.”

Kira hopped down off of the couch and sniffed what was in Dax’s hand. They were tiles with the letters of the Bajoran alphabet on them. Dax laid them out on the floor. Kira immediately nosed together the tiles to spell out the Bajoran word for “thank you.” 

“Well you are very welcome. How are you holding up?”

‘Not good.’

Dax frowned while Kira spelled out another word.

‘Useless.’

Jadzia’s eyes widened. She had tried time and time again to get Kira to open up and now that she couldn’t talk, she opens right up. It was just like her to be difficult. She started   
trying to talk multiple times but couldn’t think of the right thing to say. It wasn’t like she was a counselor. 

“Oh, Nerys. You have done so much for this station. One day where you can’t do you duties doesn’t mean that you are useless. Plus, you helped Odo today.”

Kira shot Jadzia a look and Jadzia laughed.

“Okay, fine, but I bet Odo enjoyed having you around, even if you weren’t much help.”

‘Burden’

“Nerys, the pity party ends here. We’re going to find Q and we’re going to fix this. And then you can get back to being your productive, workaholic self again. Deal?”

Kira barked and wagged her tail. Dax tossed her another treat, and she caught it mid air. She came over to Dax and started sniffing around. She started at Dax’s hands. She gave those a little lick before moving on. Kira sniffed a bit more until she found what she had been looking for. She nudged Dax’s hip pocket with her nose and then scratched at it with one paw while looking up at Dax with those big brown eyes.

“Oh, you want more?”

Kira whined a little to go with the eyes. Dax tossed her another one. A look of concern flashed briefly across her face, but disappeared before Kira could notice. This wasn’t the Major Kira that she knew. She was begging. Like a dog. Jadzia glanced at the chronometer and sighed. She’d have to talk to Odo about this in the morning. 

“It’s getting late. 0500 comes quick. Let’s turn in,” said Jadzia as she ruffled the top of Kira’s head. 

Kira yawned and stretched in response. Dax got up off the floor and headed towards her bedroom. Kira trotted ahead of her and jumped on the bed. 

“Is this how this is going to work?” said Dax with a laugh.

Kira yawned again. She then spun around a few times and curled up at the foot of the bed. Jadzia furrowed her brow at that behavior. It was almost like a switch had been pulled. Distinctly Kira at one moment and then distinctly dog the next. Kira understood just fine now, but Jadzia was worried that that comprehension would fade with time. They needed to find Q, and find him fast.

***

Jadzia woke to a warm tongue on her face and her chronometer announcing the time. She rolled over and covered her head. It was just a dream. The wet nose on her cheek confirmed that this was no dream and that Major Kira Nerys had licked her face. She groped for her communicator on the nightstand.

“Constable, can you meet me in my room? We have a problem.”

“I’m on my way.”

Dax rolled over and was met with a dog face right in her face. 

“How’d you sleep?”

Kira panted and stared at Dax. 

“Very informative.”

Her door chimed and Kira started barking at it. Dax quickly pulled on her uniform and followed Kira into the main room.

“Enter.”

When Kira saw Odo, she ran at him and bounced at his feet. Odo’s eyes met Dax’s. He looked incredibly confused and slightly scared. 

“I noticed last night that Kira was acting strangely. I think she’s gone full dog now, but I’m not sure.”

“This is what I was afraid of. I talked to Doctor Bashir yesterday about Kira’s behavior. He estimated that she had a few days, but obviously, he was wrong.”

Kira was still jumping and barking. Odo looked down at her and politely asked if she would stop. She didn’t.

“Nerys,” said Odo, with a little extra growl in his voice.

Kira stopped immediately. She licked her lips and looked at the ground. With a little yawn, she trotted over to Dax and stared at her shoes. Odo grimaced. He held his hand out to Dax who put a treat into it. Odo knelt and offered the treat to Kira. She didn’t even look at him. Odo smiled apologetically and offered the treat again. Kira took it from him and he reached out to pet her head. When he went to pull his hand away, Kira licked it. 

“It’s okay,” said Odo as he pet Kira again.

“So, what are we going to do with her?”

“I’m sure my staff can live without me for one day. I’ll keep her safe.”

“I’m late for my shift. Let me know if anything changes. We’ll keep looking for Q.”

“Okay, Lieutenant, I will.”

Odo coaxed Kira to follow him. He lead her to his quarters, but then was unsure of what to do. He had no idea how to entertain a Terran dog, especially one that, up until recently, was a Bajoran woman and second in command on the station. 

For starters, he turned to the replicator in his room and asked it for dog food. He wasn’t sure if Dax had fed Kira. When Odo set down the bowl, Kira sniffed it and then looked up at him. 

“Sorry. I don’t think dogs can eat hasperat.”

Kira ate the food, but communicated quite clearly that she didn’t enjoy it. Odo frowned. He should have gotten some of those treats from Dax. They would definitely make it easier to work with Kira. She was stubborn enough as a Bajoran, he really didn’t need to find out just how stubborn she was as a dog.

When she was done eating, Kira sat at Odo’s feet and stared up at him. He had no idea what to do. He knew how to interact with Kira, but he didn’t know how to interact with this Kira. 

“Bark if you understand me.”

Kira continued to stare at him. 

“That went well.” 

Odo sighed and then an idea came to him. He replicated one of the balls that Doctor Bashir used to play tennis and rolled it across the room. Kira immediately chased after it and brought it back. Odo really hoped that the Major wouldn’t be able to recall this particular moment. He bent down and tossed the ball again. This time he overshot, and the ball bumped into a table with a few vases on it. Kira chased after the ball and bumped into the table herself. One of the vases started to tilt, and Odo held his breath. He took a step, but he was too late. The ruins of the vase stared up at Odo from the floor. It honestly wasn’t anything of any kind of importance, but he still was bothered that something of his had been broken. Kira brought back the ball and dropped it at his feet, but with one look at his face she lowered her eyes and tucked her tail. Odo immediately dropped onto one knee. 

“Hey, it’s okay. It was an accident. It’s okay,” he said as he scratched behind her ear. 

Kira looked up at him at licked his hand. No matter how many times she did that, he never got used to it. Odo ruffled the top of her head again. He could get used to having a dog on the station. A dog that wasn’t Major Kira though. He more than definitely wanted her back to normal. 

“We could go to... Quark’s,” he said, disdain heavy in his voice. “I know you don’t like holosuites, but you could really run around in one of those, unlike my quarters. I’ll even bring the ball.”

He couldn’t believe that he was trying to convince a dog, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that deep down somewhere the Major was in there watching. He also wasn’t sure what she would remember.

With minimal coaxing this time, Odo got the Major to follow him. She was a fairly obedient dog, which was a nice change of pace. As the two of them walked down the hall, a Bajoran passed them.

“Constable. Major,” she said to both of them with a nod. 

News traveled fast on the small station. Especially when it involved one of the officers. Odo smiled curtly at the Bajoran woman and nodded as well. He picked up the pace, so they could hopefully get to Quark’s without many more people noticing. The two of them made it to one of the second floor entrances without anyone else stopping them. Kira stopped at the top of the stairs for a moment. She put her front paws on the second step and her back paws followed. Odo watched with a hint of a smile on his face as Kira tried to figure out the best way to get down the stairs. Eventually, she got a rhythm going and Odo had to pick up the pace to keep up with her. 

***

Quark replicated the drink orders of the customers that were sitting at table number seven. He set the drinks on a tray and went out to deliver them. At the bottom of the stairs, that same dog from before ran out in front of him. Quark let out a loud scream and dropped the tray. He watched as the drinks moved in a graceful arc toward the floor. 

“Odo! You’re going to pay for those drinks.”

“I didn’t do. It was the Major.”

“So, what you’re saying is that... that menace is Major Kira?”

“Yes. What part of Major did you not understand?”

Quark bared his teeth at the constable. The expression morphed into a tight smile. 

“What can I do for you two today then?”

“I’d like to rent a holosuite.”

Quark laughed. “Oh, that is rich, Constable.”

“I’m serious Quark. I’d like to rent a holosuite.”

Quark shrugged and then turned to Kira. “And you owe me for those drinks.”

Kira growled at Quark and then barked at him, bouncing a little closer to him.

“You know, accidents happen. Clumsy me. I’ll just cover the cost myself,” said Quark as he backed away from Kira towards the bar.

Odo selected a program that was just an empty park and headed to the holosuites that were upstairs. Kira charged up the stairs in front of him. Apparently up was easier than down. Odo loaded up the program and let Kira run free in it. He pulled the ball out of a pocket he had made and threw it for her. When she brought it back, she would drop it right at his feet. Occasionally, she would run past the ball to explore underneath a hedge or sniff a particularly interesting rock. 

Odo had never Kira with her guard down like this. She was always closed off. Protecting some part of herself. He was never quite sure if it was a part that needed protecting, or if she protected it so that no one could find it. But here, even though she couldn’t speak, he could see that her guard was down. She wandered the park here and there without pausing to do a sensory check. The manufactured twitter of birds in the trees didn’t make her stop and listen. And not just listening for the sake of hearing nice sounds. The kind of listening that someone learns when they grow up in a warzone. Odo had never seen Kira so happy before. He was afraid that after she was back to normal, she wouldn’t remember this quiet moment of chasing a ball in a park. 

Kira brought the ball back to him and sat at his feet. Her tail wagged hard enough to make her whole body sway. Throwing the ball, Odo watched Kira tear off after it with a smile on his face. He decided to join her. In the form of a German shepherd, he followed Kira. He’d used this form once before and had never thought to revisit it. He thought that Terran animals were quite boring, and he tried to avoid them. However, the Terran rat was quite useful to get into tight spaces when he needed a solid form. 

Kira was quite confused and standoffish when Odo came bounding towards her. He stopped and sat, waiting for her to come to him. It was always best to let Kira come to you, lest   
she be scared away like a wary hara cat. She sniffed the air. As she came closer, Kira seemed to recognize Odo’s scent. She stopped and cocked her head. Odo stood, taking a step closer. Kira sniffed again and huffed in confusion. Odo took another step and nosed the ball towards Kira. He looked at her expectantly. She took the ball and trotted off with it, stopping to look back to see if Odo was following her. Odo ran after her and the two of them went off to run around and explore what the hologram had to offer. 

There were so many trees and bushes to sniff. Sometimes Kira would chase Odo and sometimes it was the other way around. Odo mostly watched as Kira sniffed everything being that he didn’t have a sense of smell. Odo, who was usually so good at such things, had completely lost track of time. He did know that he was starting to get tired, which meant that he would have to regenerate in a few hours. He sat and watched Kira, his eyes blinking longer and longer. Lying down, Odo still continued to watch her. She was so interested in everything that was around them. Usually it was all get in and get out. No time to smell the flowers. He liked seeing this side of Kira, even if it wasn’t really a side of her. It was more a wish than anything. Kira turned and noticed that Odo was lying down. She came up to him and curled up next to him. Odo rolled over onto his side, and Kira wiggled over and nestled herself against his chest. 

***

“Odo to Ops. We’ve got a situation up here, and I think you’re going to want to see it.”

Dax’s voice woke the constable with a start. He had reverted back to his natural state while sleeping. He quickly formed his humanoid shape and went to leave. Kira sat at his feet, her big, brown eyes trained on him. She whined and pawed at his foot. 

“I have to go. They need me up in Ops.”

Kira whined at him again. 

“We’ll come do this again another time. I have to go.”

Kira continued to whine at him. Odo sighed. 

“Computer: End program.”

The idyllic setting abruptly disappeared and was replaced with the stark, grim architecture of the Cardassians. Odo turned and left. Kira followed him as if that was the way it had always been.

Up in Ops, Dax sat at her station, her knee bouncing. Odo should have been here by now. In his office, Sisko was arguing with two men. Dax pretended that she was intently working on something but she was too distracted by both trying to hear what Sisko was saying and where Odo was. Out of the corner of her eye, Dax watched Sisko. The openings in the doors were small, but she could see him pacing as he spoke. His arms opened in a grand gesture as if he was daring the men in the room to do something. Dax had known Sisko a long time, but even she couldn’t interpret everything from his body language alone. 

Odo and Kira came up the turbolift into Ops. Dax practically jumped out of her seat to greet them. Something was not right. Odo could sense that. Everything was too quiet in Ops. Usually there was a fair amount of noise with the sounds of the machines and people talking to each other. Now, it was almost silent except for the faint sound of Sisko yelling from inside his office. At who though, Odo couldn’t tell. Kira scooted a little closer to Odo. She could sense it too.

“Where have you been?” asked Dax, trying to keep her voice down.

“I was... indisposed.”

“There are two Qs in Sisko’s office. I think a little hustle would have been prudent.”

“Well, if you would have mentioned that, maybe I would have hurried a little more.”

“Nevermind. I need to know what’s going on in there.”

“It’s probably something about the Major.”

“Well, yes, I know that. But I want to know exactly what they are discussing about the Major. I need details.”

“Fine.”

Odo turned and started to walk towards Sisko’s office with Kira in tow when they suddenly disappeared. 

“Well, that’s one way to do it,” said Dax to no one in particular.

Inside the office, the dark haired Q and Sisko were locked in completely silent, completely motionless combat. They just stared at each other, angrily. 

“Turn her back.”

“She disrespected me.”

“Turn her back.”

“I like her better this way.”

“I like her better the other way.”

“But she’s so much quieter.”

“I liked the noisy one.”

“I see that you aren’t going to back down.”

“No.”

Q sighed. “Humans.”

He snapped his fingers and Kira was Bajoran again. She stood behind Odo first looking confused and then looking angry. Very angry.

“I can’t believe that you would do such a...”

Q sighed again. He clapped one hand together in a shutting motion, and Kira found herself unable to speak. She grasped at her throat and opened her mouth a few times. Resigning herself to her plight, Kira just stood and glared at Q. 

“Don’t you see, Commander, she’s never going to stop talking and it is so exhausting. How do you stand it?” 

Q turned to Odo awaiting his answer. Odo’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth as if to say something but just closed it. 

“This one talks too much and this one doesn’t say anything. They make a great couple, don’t you think?”

This time the question was directed at Sisko who also didn’t know what to say. Kira still glared. If Odo could have blushed, he would have been. And the other Q stood there looking like he was waiting for a bus that was a bit late. 

“You are all so boring. At least the crew of the Enterprise secretly enjoyed my antics. Let’s go.”

The other Q shrugged, and they were both gone. 

Sisko rubbed his temples and sighed. 

“Are you okay, Major?” asked Odo as his turned to face Kira.

“Yeah. I’m–” she smiled at being able to use her voice. “I’m fine. Tired but fine.”

“Major, you should take some time off. Reacquaint yourself with having two legs and no tail,” said Sisko. 

“I can go right back to my duties, sir.”

“Don’t protest or I’ll get Q to come back here.” 

Kira nodded and left the office. That was the first time that either of them had seen anything resembling fear in Kira’s eyes. 

“How is she, Constable?”

“I honestly don’t know. I’m not even sure if she remembers it all.”

“Okay, well, find out and report back. And I think this is one event that could be overlooked in any reports to Star Fleet.”

Odo nodded and left Sisko’s office as well.

***

Around dinner time, Odo just so happen to find himself near Major Kira’s quarters and so he thought that he’d pay her a visit. He rang the bell and waited, his arms behind his back and bouncing on his heels a bit. When Kira answered the door, she looked like she was going to tell whoever was there to go away, but when she saw that it was Odo, her face softened into a smile.

“Hello, Constable.

“May I come in?”

Kira stood aside to let Odo pass. When he spied the dog treats on the coffee table, he gave the Major a look. She looked at her feet.

“They’re good. If you ate, I’d offer for you to try one. Just, uh, just don’t tell Dax.”

“And I would politely refuse. Of course I won’t say anything.”

Kira smiled and then sat on the couch, indicating that Odo should join her, which he did. 

“How are you doing, Major?”

“Still a bit scrambled. I’m not sure what are my thoughts and what are dog thoughts.”

“Things should clear up in time. How much do you remember?”

“Did Sisko send you to debrief me?”

“Not at all. I was simply curious. There was a period of time where you were distinctly... not yourself. I just wanted to know how much of that you remembered.”

“Most of it. But it was strange. Like I was watching a holoprojection through my own eyes with no control. Mostly what I remember though was how well you cared for me. And I’d like to thank you.”

“It was really no problem. You needed help, and I helped.”

“No, you really cared for dog Kira.”

“I care for you in any shape. Um, I mean, I have got to get going. The station won’t patrol itself, you know. Very busy. Got to go.”

Odo jumped up and practically ran out of the door. Kira smiled to herself and shook her head. 

“What has gotten into him lately?” she asked the empty room.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I made up that Ferengi are afraid of dogs just for the sake of hilarity. And I know that's not how Bajoran works either. There's probably other stuff in here that's non-canon too. Just go with it.


End file.
